


Asteroidea

by Polomonkey



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gaslighting, Healing, Humor, M/M, Protective Merlin, Romance, Sexual Inexperience, Vulnerable Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:41:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28518054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polomonkey/pseuds/Polomonkey
Summary: Merlin's smitten with his new boyfriend Arthur. Only Arthur seems to be holding back a little in the bedroom. When Merlin finds out why, can he help heal the hurts of the past?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 53
Kudos: 354
Collections: Finish that Fic Merlin!, Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11, Numerous OTPS Infinite Fandoms





	Asteroidea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Clea2011](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/gifts).



> I promised this fic to Clea about 400 years ago but time has made a fool of me yet again. Also asteroidea is the species name for starfish, which is my fact for today. The more you know...
> 
> Fills my hc bingo square 'gaslighting' - which refers to past emotional abuse (not between Merthur) - please do read the end notes first if you fear being triggered. This fic does not contain rape or sexual abuse.

They met at a football match, which was an unlikely place for Merlin to be. But Will had just joined the team and he insisted Merlin come along and show him support because “I sat through every one of those horrendous slam poetry events you dragged me to”.

Ah, Merlin’s brief and not so glittering career as a slam poet. All to impress his course mate Mordred, who’d ended up getting off with Gilli anyway. Since then Merlin had vowed not to fake interest in a hobby to attract a man. Which was why when the shockingly attractive blond guy next to him asked “You a big fan?”, Merlin told the truth.

“No. I hate football. My friend made me come.”

The guy looked a bit surprised and then laughed.

“Oh right. Not the answer I was expecting.”

“Sorry!” Merlin said, realising he’d sounded a bit overly vehement. “I don’t hate it exactly, it’s just… not my thing.”

“It’s fine,” the guy said. “I just saw the scarf and-”

“Oh God,” Merlin said, remembering far too late that he was wearing some green fluffy monstrosity Will had forced on him. “I was bitching about being cold and my friend punished me with this, I didn’t even realise that it was team colours.”

“Well I think it looks nice,” the guy said solidly.

There was a beat and then they both burst out laughing.

“I appreciate the lie.”

“I tried my best,” the guy said. “I’m Arthur, by the way.”

“Merlin,” Merlin said, shaking the proffered hand. “So are you here because you are a big fan, then?”

“I actually used to be on the team,” Arthur said.

“Well, Arthur, I haven’t got the faintest idea what the rules of this game are so you’ll have to hekp me out.”

“Oh come on, you must have played in school.”

“You’re looking at the world champion of forging his mum’s signature, my friend. I had a mucus infection for about three years to get me out of P.E.”

“Gross,” Arthur said, laughing.

“That’s the point!” Merlin said. “The grosser the better, they ask less questions.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Arthur said. “So, shall we start with the offside rule?”

To be honest, Merlin ended up with more of an appreciation for Arthur’s big blue eyes and sunshine blond hair than he did for the intricacies of the beautiful game. He did like how passionate Arthur seemed about the whole thing however; the obvious love he had for the sport.

“You said you used to be on the team,” Merlin said, just before the end of the first half. “How come you left?”

Arthur looked pained for a second and Merlin groaned.

“Oh God, was it some traumatic injury and I’ve put my foot right in it?”

Arthur relaxed a little then.

“Ha, no, nothing like that. I was dating a guy on the team and we broke up so-”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Merlin lied guiltily, because in truth he wasn’t sorry at all to find out that the ridiculously fit and charming bloke next to him liked men. “Was it recent?”

“Nah, a while ago now. It was a bit awkward on the team after though so I just…”

Arthur waved his hand vaguely.

“A while ago,” Merlin repeated. “So if I… if I asked you for a drink after the game…”

Arthur looked completely shocked and Merlin was a little surprised himself. He wasn’t usually so forward but how often did the romance gods drop a gift like this in your lap?

“Yeah, I mean… yeah. That’d be nice.”

Merlin could have jumped for joy and not just because Will’s team seemed to have scored. Arthur still looked a bit dazed but he squeezed Merlin’s hand when the whistle blew.

“Know what that means?”

“End of the first half?”

“No. It means let’s ditch early and go to the pub.”

And that rather settled it.

It was all pretty lovely from there on out. Aside from the fact that Arthur always wanted Sky Sports on, whereas Merlin was a Film4 kind of guy (they compromised on Dave), they had a lot in common. And Merlin was always somehow surprised by how sweetly attentive Arthur was, how gentle he could be. He’d dated a few laddish types in his time and he’d had Arthur pegged as similar, but there was a softness to him that Merlin was unfamiliar with. He sent Merlin little texts in the day asking how he was, he recorded films on his fancy TV package that he thought Merlin might like, and he started stocking oat milk in his fridge when he found out that Merlin was lactose intolerant. They were small things but they made a big difference, and every day Merlin thanked his lucky stars he’d been dragged along to that football match.

So yes, it was all going rather splendidly.

Except for in the bedroom.

And it wasn’t that it was going badly there, exactly. Just…

Something was missing.

Arthur was so giving of himself in every other area, so open and generous, that perhaps the contrast to his behaviour in the bedroom was more obvious. And it wasn’t that he was selfish in bed, far from it. He just wasn’t… present. He was making all the right moves and Merlin was never unsatisfied, it wasn’t a question of that. But there was something reserved about him. He never really made noises and he didn’t talk at all, which Merlin was totally unused to. It wasn’t as if he thought the middle of sex was the ideal time for a heated debate, but a few words here and there wouldn’t go amiss. He didn’t think Arthur was trying the whole ‘intense, smouldering, too aroused to speak’ thing either. He didn’t look like he was smouldering. He didn’t look like he was feeling anything.

It was almost as though Arthur would be Arthur up until the moment they started fooling around and then he’d adopt a whole new persona, one that Merlin didn’t feel he knew that well. In fact fooling around was the last phrasing appropriate, because it was hard to tell if Arthur was having any fun at all.

Merlin wasn’t worried at first – new relationships took a while to settle in and couples rarely fell straight into sexual harmony. But by the three month mark, he was beginning to wonder what he was doing wrong.

He tried to do a bit of probing about past relationships – perhaps there were things Arthur had done in bed before that he wanted to try again? Or something new that he’d never had a chance to do?

But Arthur was fairly cagey on the subject. He didn’t have much to say about his last relationship – with the man on the football team, a fella called Cenred. He did tell Merlin that there was nothing he missed about their sex life, however, which somewhat put Merlin’s mind at ease. He didn’t know which of the burly, super fit men on the football team Cenred was, but it was a relief to hear that Arthur wasn’t pining after sex with a more muscular and sporty type than Merlin.

It sounded a bit like Cenred was Arthur’s first real relationship, as the only other experiences he’d mentioned were a few quick fumbles at school. Perhaps the problem was simply nerves on Arthur’s part due to lack of sexual experience? Then again, Merlin wasn’t exactly Casanova – his magic number was five and three of those had just been one night stands. It was hard to believe it was his sexual prowess that was somehow intimidating Arthur into nerves of this kind. He liked to think he was always caring and attentive in bed, but his lifelong clumsiness didn’t magically go away in the bedroom and he’d been known to throw a few stray elbows or knock a few teeth together in his time.

It just didn’t make sense. He needed someone to talk it out with but his flatmate Freya was away on her postgrad field study and he didn’t really feel like explaining the whole thing over a crackly Skype connection. And he definitely didn’t fancy discussing his sex life with his mum, as close as they were.

That only left Will and he was, as usual, no help whatsoever.

“Don’t ask me, you know I think he’s a stuck up prick,” was Will’s opening salvo after Merlin had finished explaining the situation.

Merlin might have been more concerned about that opinion if Will didn’t think that basically anyone with the temerity to own a smartphone and eat at a sit down restaurant was a stuck up prick.

“He’s not though, Will, he’s lovely. He’s just…”

What was that godawful film Freya had made them watch that one time?

“Not That Into Me,” Merlin finished sadly. “Maybe.”

“Look, you should chuck him if that’s true,” Will said sagely. “You deserve better, mate.”

He drained the pint he was drinking and tapped the glass, clearly implying that as Merlin dragged him out to the pub for “a chat”, he needed to be responsible for keeping the booze flowing.

“Well, I don’t know if that’s the reason for sure. I just can’t think of anything else it might be.”

“So talk to him about it. When you next seeing him?”

“He’s coming over when he gets off shift tonight.”

“Tonight, then.”

The idea made Merlin want to be sick with nerves but to be honest it wasn’t a bad one. He should at least hear Arthur out before he jumped to any conclusions.

It was going to be a painfully embarrassing chat, though. Grimacing, Merlin got to his feet.

“Let’s drink more.”

Two hours later, the walls were swaying a little and Merlin was feeling much calmer about the approaching conversation. He’d just ask him! Simple as that. And Arthur would have some perfect explanation, like he’d never been with a guy as amazing as Merlin before and he needed to adjust and everything would be hunky dory. And then they’d go to bed and Arthur would lean over and…

“Ah shit,” Will said, breaking Merlin out of his pleasant reverie.

“What?”

“It’s those wankers from the footie team – don’t look!”

But it was too late. Two men were already making their way over, pints in hand.

“Will! Fancy seeing you here.”

“Alright?” Will said unenthusiastically.

“Mind if we join?”

Will nodded and the two sat down.

“This is Merlin. Merlin, this is Val and Cenred from the team.”

Merlin nearly choked on his beer. This was Cenred, Arthur’s ex?

“Hi,” he said, sizing the guy up. Annoyingly, he was good looking, though his leather trousers were far too tight and his face seemed to have an unattractive permanent smirk on it.

Cenred clearly didn’t recognise Merlin’s name though and conversation turned to football. Merlin could see quickly why Will hadn’t wanted to greet them – Val was a boor and every second comment out of Cenred’s mouth seemed to be a snide one.

After half an hour, he made his excuses.

“I gotta go.”

Will looked at him pleadingly.

“No you don’t.”

“I do, Arthur’s waiting for me,” Merlin said, though Arthur wouldn’t be off shift for another hour. “Nice to meet you lads-”

“Wait, Arthur Pendragon?” Cenred said suddenly. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Merlin said stiffly.

Cenred and Val looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

“Good luck,” Cenred said, between snorts.

“Excuse me?” Merlin said, fully riled at this point.

“We used to go out,” Cenred said. “So, er, my sympathies mate. I know what you’re going through.”

Merlin sucked in one deep breath, and then another. These men were drunk and they were arseholes. Better to just let it go.

“Whatever,” he said, standing up. “See you, Will.”

“Say hi to the starfish!” Val burst out and he and Cenred both collapsed in laughter.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Merlin said, patience fully exhausted.

“Just my nickname for him,” Cenred sniggered. “‘Cause starfish, they’re all splayed out like this, right?”

He stuck his arms and legs out exaggeratedly.

“And just lay there doing nothing, right?”

“What are you-”

“Just like Arthur in bed.”

Val spat out a mouthful of beer he was laughing so hard. Merlin felt like ice water was trickling down his back.

“You what?” he said quietly.

“He’s shit in bed! Can’t top, can’t suck cock, makes all these weird fucking noises.”

Cenred cracked a nasty grin.

“Well I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, like fucking a dead fish, innit?”

“You’re out of line,” Will said, struggling to his feet, but Cenred paid him no mind.

“My advice – get out while you can. It doesn’t get any better.”

“You’re a real prick,” Merlin said, voice choked. He was so angry he could barely see straight and his hands were itching to knock that grin off Cenred’s face.

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Cenred said, holding his hands up. “If you like fucking corpses so much, maybe you should go down the funeral home and-”

Merlin had never thrown a pint in someone’s face before but it was surprisingly satisfying. For good measure, he grabbed Will’s and doused Val too.

“What the fuck-”

“Talk shit about Arthur again and I’ll fucking-”

Merlin didn’t really know what he’d do, he was raging too much to be coherent. Will grabbed hold of his arm and started dragging him towards the exit.

“You’re mental, mate!” Cenred shouted, furiously wringing out his hair.

“I’ll fucking end you!” Merlin screamed as Will finally pulled him out the door, and he wasn’t really sure that meant but it was the kind of thing they said in gangster movies and seemed appropriate for a scumbag like Cenred. He was practically pulsing with rage and if Will hadn’t been holding him, he might have gotten into an extremely ill advised physical confrontation. Merlin was no fighter but what he lacked in technique, he was sure he could make up for in pure fury right now.

Will had to pull him along for at least three streets before he cooled down a bit. By the time they reached Merlin’s flat, Will seemed to think he’d discharged his adult duties for the night and poured himself a double whiskey. He offered some to Merlin but Merlin opted for coffee instead, in an attempt to sober up. If he got any drunker, he’d be wandering the streets looking for round two with that bastard.

Merlin couldn’t remember being angrier in his life. How dare they talk about Arthur like that? Everything about Arthur’s reticence in bed, the feeling he was holding back, had fallen horribly into place. He suddenly felt so protective of his boyfriend and what he’d gone through with Cenred. No wonder he was a little gun-shy. Well, forget the conversation they were going to have. When Arthur got here, Merlin was going to run him a nice bath and pamper him to within an inch of his life. And then later, if the time was right and he felt he could raise it, maybe they could revisit that conversation about past relationships. Merlin wouldn’t mention tonight specifically, of course – he had a feeling Arthur would hate to know Merlin had found out that way. But if they could be open about their pasts, maybe he could reassure Arthur once and for all.

Mind made up, he and Will had a therapeutic rage vent (and really, Will wasn’t always the best friend where feelings were involved, but if you needed someone to complain with, he was gold standard). Unfortunately Merlin got a little too into it and was completely blind-sided when the doorbell rang.

“Shit, that’s Arthur! Okay, you get that while I go change my shirt.”

Merlin had experienced a bit of splashback from his pint throwing escapade and he really didn’t need Arthur asking him why. He rushed into his bedroom and shucked his shirt off, reaching for the first one he saw. His head was almost clear, the coffee seeming to have done the trick, but his brain wasn’t working as fast as usual. If it had been, he might have realised the danger of sending Will to the door. As it was, he didn’t catch on until he heard Will’s loud “-knew they were wankers but this just proved it-” from the hallway.

Fuck. No.

Merlin sped back through to see Will patting Arthur on the arm. Arthur was completely frozen, expression inscrutable.

“Merls! I was just telling Arthur about our little pint incident,” Will slurred.

“Shut up, Will,” Merlin hissed but his friend just winked at him.

“Yes, alright, I’ll leave you to it! I just wanted to say, Arthur-”

He gripped Arthur’s arm, awash with drunken sincerity.

“I know we haven’t always got on great but it’s just wrong, what they were saying. Starfish and that, it’s just-”

“Will!”

“No, Merls, I’m just saying! Arthur’s a good bloke.”

Will pumped his hand vigorously, painfully oblivious to the mood in the room.

Arthur still hadn’t said a single word.

“Anyway, leave – leave youse to get on with it.”

With one last hiccup, he was out of the door.

Merlin could hardly look at Arthur. The silence stretched between them, Merlin desperately thinking of something to say to make it right.

“You met Cenred,” Arthur said at last, and he was very still.

“Yes. Listen-”

“I have to go,” Arthur interrupted. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise how tired I was-”

“Arthur, no, please,” Merlin said frantically. If Arthur walked out of that door, Merlin didn’t know if he’d ever come back. One look at his face showed how utterly wounded he was, how deeply ashamed.

It made Merlin furious. The fact that a prick like Cenred could have such an effect on someone as good and sweet as Arthur… He wished he’d foregone the pint for punching Cenred straight in the face.

But that was no help to Arthur right now. Merlin reached out to take his hand and Arthur flinched away slightly, though he didn’t pull his hand free.

“I understand if you don’t want to carry on seeing m-” he said, voice strained.

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Merlin said fiercely. “I – look it’s too soon for ‘I love yous’, but I like you one hell of a lot, and nothing Cenred or anyone else says is gonna change that.”

Arthur’s face was a mask.

“You don’t have to pity me,” he said, with great effort, and Merlin’s heart clenched.

“I don’t,” he said, looking straight in Arthur’s eyes, hoping to convey how much he meant it. “I’m angry on your behalf but-”

“You’re angry that I’m bad in bed?” Arthur muttered.

“You are not bad in bed,” Merlin said emphatically, squeezing Arthur’s hand for emphasis. “Cenred is an emotionally abusive bastard for making you think that.”

“It’s not abuse, Merlin,” Arthur said, and he looked very tired. “He wasn’t hitting me or anything. He was just making fun of me, and it’s not like he was wrong.”

Merlin felt his stomach sink. Did Arthur think this was normal in a relationship? That as long as it stopped short of physical violence, your partner could be as hurtful to you as they wanted? It was textbook emotional abuse as far as Merlin was concerned but he didn’t want to say that so bluntly if Arthur had never considered it before.

“Did he make fun of you often?” he said carefully.

Two spots of colour appeared on Arthur’s cheeks.

“It was just banter,” he said tightly.

“But did you find it funny?” Merlin said.

“No, but… he was frustrated, alright? With me, because I wasn’t-”

Arthur seemed to run out of breath suddenly, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

“I can’t do this, I’m sorry, I have to go-” he said in a rush and Merlin tugged on his hand.

“No, wait, darling,” Merlin said desperately. “We don’t have to talk about it. Please just stay. Please, we’ll just go to sleep.”

Merlin stepped into his boyfriend’s space, hoping he was doing the right thing as he wrapped his arms around Arthur.

It took a few seconds but then he felt Arthur relax a little, and hug him back.

“Come on,” Merlin said when it felt safe to draw back. “Let’s get some kip.”

He led Arthur by the hand to the bedroom and left to brush his teeth. When he came back, Arthur was sat on the bed, staring into space.

“I left out a new toothbrush for you,” Merlin said, touching him on the shoulder.

“Mmm? Oh. Thank you.”

Arthur went off to the bathroom and Merlin got under the covers, trying to warm the bed up. He didn’t know what to do or say but he knew that he wanted to comfort Arthur above all else, if only by holding him close.

Arthur was rigid when he got under the covers but Merlin cuddled up to him, slipping his leg in between Arthur’s.

“Cold feet.”

“Warm heart,” Merlin replied.

“That’s not the expression.”

“It should be.”

Arthur shut his eyes but his breathing didn’t even out and Merlin could tell he was still awake.

He didn’t know whether to broach the subject again or stay quiet.

“Arthur?” he said at last, and there was no reply.

It was answer enough. Merlin nuzzled his head into his boyfriend’s chest and tried not to worry. Perhaps the morning would be better.

But it was still dark outside when he woke again. Arthur had gotten up to go to the bathroom and Merlin stretched out, missing the warmth beside him.

When Arthur climbed back in, he felt a little cold, and Merlin immediately tucked himself into his back.

To his surprise, Arthur rolled over to face him.

“You awake?”

“No, I’m sleep cuddling,” Merlin said, opening his eyes.

“About before…”

“You don’t have to,” Merlin said, suddenly anxious. He didn’t want to push too hard and cause Arthur distress.

“I want to,” Arthur said, and he looked serious in the half light of the moon. “Because I’m sure you haven’t been… satisfied with me and I owe you an explanation for that.”

“Love, please,” Merlin said quietly, letting his hand rest on Arthur’s hip. “I have been entirely satisfied.”

“So you’re saying to me there’s nothing you’d change about our sex life?” Arthur challenged.

Merlin sensed Arthur wouldn’t be fobbed off with any half truths.

“Not what you think. Nothing that you’re doing wrong, or in a way that someone else did better. But I can tell you’re tense. And you don’t speak or make hardly any noise at all and since I met that bastard tonight, all I can think is that he made you feel so bad about yourself that you’re holding back so I don’t treat you like he did.”

Arthur sucked in a breath. He shifted his head slightly so he wasn’t meeting Merlin’s eyes, and Merlin knew how horribly hard this conversation was for him.

“I don’t know what to do in bed,” Arthur said abruptly. “I only had a few encounters before I met Cenred and he was my fir- he was more experienced than me. And it frustrated him that I couldn’t ever do it right. So we broke up. And that’s about it.”

“There is no ‘doing it right’,” Merlin said, hoping his voice was even enough to hide how appalled he was. “Cenred was being cruel and unfair if he made you think there was some objective standard of good sex you couldn’t live up to.”

Arthur gave a half snort.

“Come on Merlin, even I know that slipping out constantly during sex or gagging during oral isn’t considered good.”

“It’s incredibly normal,” Merlin said, trying to keep the calm tone in his voice. “And usually all that gets better over time when you find a partner’s rhythm. I don’t think it has much chance to get better if your partner’s constantly berating you about it.”

Arthur shook his head.

“And what about me making stupid noises-”

“Oh my God!” Merlin exploded. “I fucking hate Cenred! Half of sex is about stupid noises, that’s the whole bloody point! To be intimate enough with someone that you don’t mind them seeing you be totally vulnerable!”

He instantly regretted losing his cool but to his surprise, Arthur didn’t look upset. He looked contemplative.

Pressing his advantage, Merlin leaned forward.

“Arthur, what does my face look like when I orgasm?”

Arthur blanched.

“It… well, normal I suppose.”

“You liar!” Merlin said. “I look like a complete fool, as does everyone ever when they orgasm. We’re not pornstars, we’re real people who make ridiculous faces when we come, just as nature intended.”

He was incredibly relieved to see Arthur crack a tiny smile.

“I suppose you do look a bit odd.”

“As do you, as does Cenred, as does the Queen probably.”

“Oh, how could you bring the Queen into this?” Arthur objected.

“We’ll talk about your unfortunate monarchist leanings later,” Merlin said, squeezing his hip. “The point is that sex is a messy, undignified business. That’s what makes it so fun. Cenred doesn’t get that, and he never will, because no one will ever love him enough to be vulnerable around him. So he’s gonna lose out in the end, do you hear me?”

Arthur bit his lip.

“He wasn’t very nice about the whole thing,” he admitted after a long pause, and Merlin knew that was about all he was going to get for now. They’d pick the topic up later though, he was sure of it. Cenred had done damage that couldn’t be solved with just one conversation.

But they were on the right track.

“Is that why you left the football team?” he said and Arthur nodded.

“I miss it. But I couldn’t stand seeing him every practice.”

“Understandable.”

Merlin gave Arthur a gentle poke in the stomach.

“His loss is very much my gain.”

Arthur responded with a kiss.

It lasted long enough that Merlin was feeling a bit hot and bothered when they broke apart.

“Erm… you wanna have some messy, undignified sex?”

Arthur nodded, looking only a little nervous.

“I still might be bad though,” he mumbled.

Merlin stopped him with a hand to his chest.

“Here are the ways people can be bad in bed. Not valuing consent, not listening, being pushy, being selfish, not respecting boundaries. Oh and refusing to ever shower, unless both parties are kind of into that.”

Arthur laughed slightly, as Merlin had intended.

“Definitely a shower fan.”

“Me too,” Merlin said. “Seems like we’re compatible.”

Arthur smiled, a wide genuine smile at last.

“Seems like we are.”

The next morning Merlin cancelled his swimming session in favour of breakfast in bed with Arthur. They fed each other toast and drank tea and bathed in the afterglow of some very imperfect, very enjoyable sex.

And Merlin couldn’t even stay mad at Will, seeing as how he rang at lunchtime with the news that Cenred and Val were off the football team.

“I told Leon they were making abusive comments about an ex member of the team and he kicked right off. Never seen him so mad, he booted them on the spot.”

“You didn’t tell Leon what they said?” Merlin said anxiously, not wanting Arthur’s private business to be widely known.

“Nah, soul of discretion, me. But listen, we’ve got two spots going begging now. So can you tell your boyfriend to get his arse down to training tonight?”

Arthur looked apprehensive when Merlin passed on the message.

“I’m out of shape.”

“Love, if Will can do it after about ten pints last night, you’ll be fine.”

“Alright,” Arthur said, straightening his shoulders. “Wanna come watch?”

“Not a chance,” Merlin said, helping himself to some more jam. “But I will come over to your flat after.”

“Okay,” Arthur said, kissing his shoulder. “I recorded that Greek film you wanted to see.”

“Dogtooth? Oh you legend.”

“It looks super weird.”

“It is, you’ll love it. And we can watch Match of the Day after.”

“Now you’re talking,” Arthur said and pulled Merlin back down into bed for another round.

They got toast crumbs in their hair and a tea stain on the pillow and had to pause for a two minute giggle break when Arthur nearly slipped off the bed.

Merlin couldn't have asked for anything better.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> End notes: Arthur's ex Cenred was emotionally abusive and used to belittle Arthur's performance in bed, which lead to hurt and massive self-consciousness on Arthur's part.


End file.
